READING

The European Union (EU) wasted a lot of money last year. The annual report on EU spending said the Union misspent almost five billion euros (around US$6.4 billion). The boss of the European Court of Auditors, the group that made the report, said the EU was very careless and should look after its money better. He said his team "found too many cases of EU money not hitting the target". Vitor Caldeira, the Court's president, said that many Europeans have to be careful with their money because of the financial crisis. He said the EU should take greater care with its budget because of the weak economies in Europe: "These problems matter more than ever," he added.

A spokesperson from the EU told reporters that the spending mistakes were under 4 per cent of the total EU budget. He added this was better than the 7 per cent error rate from five years ago. Some of the mistakes were very big. The EU spent money on the wrong things. One example was they gave money for training electronics employees to other kinds of workers. Another was giving money to forestry projects instead of farming programmes. Mr Caldeira said that only two areas of the EU budget had no mistakes. Marta Andreasen of the UK Independence Party said the mistakes showed the EU was seriously mismanaged. She also said this problem should "set alarm bells ringing".

WARM-UPS

SHARE THIS LESSON:

1. WASTING MONEY: Walk around the class and talk to other students about wasting money. Change partners often. Share your findings with your first partner.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

5. WHAT A WASTE!!!: Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the biggest waste of money at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

Another pair of jeans

Theme park souvenirs

Newspapers

Tissues

Alcohol

Beauty products

Video games

Cars

6. WASTE: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'money'. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

A report spokesman, Vitor Caldeira, said the EU did not hit its target.

T / F

d.

Caldeira suggested the EU should spend as carefully as Europeans.

T / F

e.

The spending mistakes were just over 4% of the EU budget.

T / F

f.

Five years ago, the EU misspent 7% of its budget.

T / F

g.

The EU gave money to forestry that should have gone to farming.

T / F

h.

The EU spent too much money on projects for alarm bells in the UK.

T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.

waste

a.

make a difference

2

annual

b.

mistake

3.

careless

c.

yearly

4.

target

d.

representative

5.

matter

e.

misspend / misuse

6.

spokesperson

f.

badly

7.

error

g.

goal

8.

rate

h.

slack

9.

seriously

i.

warning signs

10.

alarm bells

j.

percentage

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.

The European Union (EU) wasted

a.

money better

2

the Union misspent almost

b.

were very big

3.

look after its

c.

than ever

4.

financial

d.

mismanaged

5.

These problems matter more

e.

had no mistakes

6.

under 4 per cent of the total

f.

a lot of money

7.

Some of the mistakes

g.

bells ringing

8.

only two areas of the EU budget

h.

EU budget

9.

the EU was seriously

i.

five billion euros

10.

set alarm

j.

crisis

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

The European Union (EU) (1) ____________ a lot of money last year. The annual report on EU spending said the Union misspent almost five billion euros ((2) ____________ US$6.4 billion). The boss of the European Court of Auditors, the group that made the (3) ____________, said the EU was very careless and should look after its money better. He said his team "found too many (4) ____________ of EU money not hitting the target". Vitor Caldeira, the Court's president, said that many Europeans have to be (5) ____________ with their money because of the financial (6) ____________. He said the EU should take greater care with its budget because of the (7) ____________ economies in Europe: "These problems matter more than (8) ____________," he added.

crisisreportweakaroundcaseswastedevercareful

A spokesperson from the EU told reporters that the (9) ____________ mistakes were under 4 per cent of the total EU (10) ____________. He added this was better than the 7 per cent error rate from five years ago. Some of the mistakes were very (11) ____________. The EU spent money on the wrong things. One example was they gave money for training electronics (12) ____________ to other kinds of workers. Another was giving money to forestry projects (13) ____________ of farming programmes. Mr Caldeira said that only two (14) ____________ of the EU budget had no mistakes. Marta Andreasen of the UK Independence Party said the mistakes showed the EU was (15) ____________ mismanaged. She also said this problem should "set alarm bells (16) ____________ ".

employeesringingspendingareasbudgetinsteadseriouslybig

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)

The European Union (EU) wasted

a. loads of money

b. a lot of cash

c. billions and billions

d. a lot of money

2)

the Union misspent almost

a. five billion euros

b. five billion dollars

c. 6.4 billion euros

d. 6.4 billion pounds

3)

the EU was very careless and should look after its money

a. more

b. better

c. greater

d. more wisely

4)

Europeans have to be careful with their money because of the

a. global financial crisis

b. financial problems

c. finance crisis

d. financial crisis

5)

These problems matter more

a. than never

b. than ever

c. than before

d. than now

6)

the spending mistakes were ______ of the total EU budget

a. under 4 per cent

b. over 4 per cent

c. under 7 per cent

d. over 7 per cent

7)

He added this was better than the ______ error rate from five years ago

a. 17.5 per cent

b. 17 per cent

c. 70 per cent

d. 7 per cent

8)

they gave money for training electronics employees to

a. other kinds of workers

b. other sorts of workers

c. other types of workers

d. other kind workers

9)

only two areas of the EU budget had

a. new mistakes

b. non-mistakes

c. no mistakes

d. not mistakes

10)

She also said this problem should set alarm bells

a. clanging

b. ringing

c. sounding

d. going off

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The European Union (EU) (1) _____________________ money last year. The annual report on EU spending said the Union misspent almost five billion euros ((2) _____________________). The boss of the European Court of Auditors, the group that made the report, said the EU (3) _____________________ should look after its money better. He said his team "found too many cases of EU money (4) _____________________". Vitor Caldeira, the Court's president, said that many Europeans have to be careful with their money because (5) _____________________. He said the EU should take greater care with its budget because of the weak economies in Europe: "These problems (6) ________________________," he added.

A spokesperson from the EU told reporters that the spending mistakes were under 4 per cent of (7) _____________________. He added this was better than the 7 per cent (8) _____________________ years ago. Some of the mistakes were very big. The EU spent (9) _____________________ things. One example was they gave money for training electronics employees to (10) _____________________. Another was giving money to forestry projects instead of farming programmes. Mr Caldeira said that only two areas of the (11) _____________________ mistakes. Marta Andreasen of the UK Independence Party said the mistakes showed the EU was seriously mismanaged. She also said this problem should "(12) __________________".

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.

When did the EU waste a lot of money?

2.

How much money in US dollars is 5 billion euros?

3.

What did the EU not hit?

4.

Why do Europeans have to be more careful?

5.

What should the EU take greater care of?

6.

What was under 4% of the total EU budget?

7.

What was the error rate five years ago?

8.

What kind of employees should have got money?

9.

What got money instead of farms?

10.

What did a British woman say might start ringing?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1) When did the EU waste money?

6) What was the percentage of the
spending mistakes?

a) Since it began.

b) Last year.

c) Two years ago.

d) Earlier this year.

a) Under 4%

b) Over 7%

c) Over 4%

d) 4%

2) What kind of report is in the article?

7) When was the error rate 7%?

a) A financial report.

b) A terrible report.

c) An unpublished report.

d) An annual report.

a) Three years ago

b) Four years ago

c) Five years ago

d) Six years ago

3) What were there too many cases of?

8) What programmes should have got
money, but didn't?

a) The EU ringing alarm bells.

b) The EU not aiming properly.

c) The EU not hitting the target.

d) The EU not scoring.

a) Farming programmes

b) Fishing programmes

c) Fencing programmes

d) Flooring programmes

4) Why are Europeans being careful?

9) How many areas of the budget had
no mistakes?

a) Because of the financial crisis.

b) Because they are tired.

c) Because they have no jobs.

d) Because of the US economy.

a) Five

b) Four

c) Three

d) Two

5) What kind of economies are there in
Europe?

10) What should start ringing?

a) recovering

b) weak

c) poorly

d) half-dead

a) Church bells

b) Wedding bells

c) Alarm bells

d) Jingle bells

ROLE PLAY

Role A – The EU boss

You are very happy that less than 4% of the EU budget is misspent. Think of three ideas why. Four per cent is very small. The EU makes fewer spending mistakes than most companies and people. You are tired of people who complain about the EU. It does a great, great, great job.

Role B – Vitor Caldeira

You are shocked that the EU wastes so much money. There are many useful things they could spend the five billion euros on. Think of three things. You think the EU boss should lose his/her job because of the mistakes. The boss is rich so he / she doesn't care about wasting money.

Role C – A European farmer

You are very, very, very angry that the EU wastes so much money. Think of 3 reasons why. You needed the EU momey but it went to forests. Ask the EU boss why. Do NOT accept any of his/her answers. She/he is wrong, wrong, wrong. You think he/she should quit his/her job.

Role D – An EU budget worker

You work for the budget office of the EU. You understand why the EU misspent 4% of its budget. Think of 3 reasons why. You think the boss does a great job. However, you have found an EU memo that says a 10% misspending rate is OK. Ask the EU boss about this.

MULTIPLE CHOICE - LANGUAGE

The European Union (EU) wasted (1) ____ money last year. The annual report on EU spending said the Union (2) ____ almost five billion euros (around US$6.4 billion). The boss of the European Court of Auditors, the group that made the report, said the EU was very (3) ____ and should look after its money better. He said his team "found too many cases of EU money not (4) ____ the target". Vitor Caldeira, the Court's president, said that many Europeans have to be careful with their money because of the financial (5) ____. He said the EU should take greater care with its budget because of the weak economies in Europe: "These problems matter more than (6) ____," he added.

A spokesperson from the EU told reporters that the spending mistakes were (7) ____ 4 per cent of the total EU budget. He added this was better than the 7 per cent error (8) ____ from five years ago. Some of the mistakes were very big. The EU spent money (9) ____ the wrong things. One example was they gave money for training electronics employees to (10) ____ kinds of workers. Another was giving money to forestry projects instead of farming programmes. Mr Caldeira said that only two areas of the EU budget had (11) ____ mistakes. Marta Andreasen of the UK Independence Party said the mistakes showed the EU was seriously mismanaged. She also said this problem should "set alarm (12) ____ ringing".

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.

(a)

a lot of

(b)

lots

(c)

loads

(d)

a lot

2.

(a)

misspending

(b)

spenders

(c)

misspent

(d)

spending

3.

(a)

carelessly

(b)

carefully

(c)

careless

(d)

careful

4.

(a)

targeting

(b)

aiming

(c)

shooting

(d)

hitting

5.

(a)

crimes

(b)

crispy

(c)

crisis

(d)

critics

6.

(a)

never

(b)

ever

(c)

even

(d)

ever-so

7.

(a)

less

(b)

under

(c)

pre

(d)

before

8.

(a)

date

(b)

rate

(c)

gate

(d)

late

9.

(a)

in

(b)

at

(c)

on

(d)

by

10.

(a)

the others

(b)

others

(c)

another

(d)

other

11.

(a)

none

(b)

not

(c)

non-

(d)

no

12.

(a)

bills

(b)

balls

(c)

bell

(d)

bells

SPELLING

Paragraph 1

1.

The European Union stwade a lot of money

2.

the Union psenmsti almost five billion euros

3.

the EU was very aersslce

4.

… because of the fainilcan crisis

5.

the EU should take rreegta care with its budget

6.

These psrolbem matter more than ever

Paragraph 2

7.

A snskooeepspr from the EU

8.

7 per cent orerr rate

9.

money for training electronics eeloysmpe

10.

giving money to forestry projects ndeasit of farming

11.

the EU was surisloey mismanaged

12.

set alarm bells igrnnig

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

( )

on EU spending said the Union misspent almost five billion euros (around US$6.4 billion). The boss of

( )

target". Vitor Caldeira, the Court's president, said that many Europeans have to be careful with their money because of the financial

( )

mistakes. Marta Andreasen of the UK Independence Party said the mistakes showed the EU was seriously

( )

big. The EU spent money on the wrong things. One example was they gave money for training electronics employees

( )

A spokesperson from the EU told reporters that the spending mistakes were under 4 per

( )

cent of the total EU budget. He added this was better than the 7 per cent error rate from five years ago. Some of the mistakes were very

( )

crisis. He said the EU should take greater care with its budget because of the weak

( 1 )

The European Union (EU) wasted a lot of money last year. The annual report

( )

to other kinds of workers. Another was giving money to forestry projects instead of farming

( )

programmes. Mr Caldeira said that only two areas of the EU budget had no

( )

after its money better. He said his team "found too many cases of EU money not hitting the

( )

economies in Europe: "These problems matter more than ever," he added.

( )

mismanaged. She also said this problem should "set alarm bells ringing".

( )

the European Court of Auditors, the group that made the report, said the EU was very careless and should look

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.

year Union lot last European a money The wasted of.

2.

EU money not hitting the target Too many cases of.

3.

careful Europeans with have their to money be.

4.

take with should care budget EU greater its The.

5.

more ever These matter than problems.

6.

spending per mistakes cent were under The 4.

7.

was better than the 7 per cent error rate This.

8.

money on The the EU wrong spent things.

9.

of the EU budget had no mistakes Only two areas.

10.

alarm set should problem This ringing bells.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

The European Union (EU) wasted / wasting a lot of money last year. The annual report on / in EU spending said the Union misspent most / almost five billion euros (around US$6.4 billion). The boss of the European Court of Auditors, the group that made the report, said the EU was very carelessly / careless and should look after its money better / good. He said his team "found too many cases of EU money not / no hitting the target". Vitor Caldeira, the Court's president, said what / that many Europeans have to be careful with their money because of the financial / finances crisis. He said the EU should take greater careful / care with its budget because of the weak economies in Europe: "These problems matter more than ever / never," he added.

A spokesperson from / by the EU told reporters that the spending mistakes were under / less 4 per cent of the total EU budget. He added this was better than the 7 per cent error date / rate from five years ago. Some of the mistakes were very bigger / big. The EU spent money in / on the wrong things. One example was they gave money for training electronics employees to other / another kinds of workers. Another were / was giving money to forestry projects instead for / of farming programmes. Mr Caldeira said that only two areas of the EU budget had no / not mistakes. Marta Andreasen of the UK Independence Party said the mistakes showed the EU was seriously mismanaged. She also said this problem should "set / let alarm bells ringing".

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

the european union (eu) wasted a lot of money last year the annual report on eu spending said the union misspent almost five billion euros (around us$64 billion) the boss of the european court of auditors the group that made the report said the eu was very careless and should look after its money better he said his team "found too many cases of eu money not hitting the target" vitor caldeira the court's president said that many europeans have to be careful with their money because of the financial crisis he said the eu should take greater care with its budget because of the weak economies in europe "these problems matter more than ever" he added

a spokesperson from the eu told reporters that the spending mistakes were under 4 per cent of the total eu budget he added this was better than the 7 per cent error rate from five years ago some of the mistakes were very big the eu spent money on the wrong things one example was they gave money for training electronics employees to other kinds of workers another was giving money to forestry projects instead of farming programmes mr caldeira said that only two areas of the eu budget had no mistakes marta andreasen of the uk independence party said the mistakes showed the eu was seriously mismanaged she also said this problem should "set alarm bells ringing"

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about wasting money. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. WASTING MONEY: Make a poster about wasting money. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. BUDGET: Write a magazine article about budgets. Include imaginary interviews with people who are good at making them.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to the boss of the EU. Ask him/her three questions about the EU wasting money. Give him/her three of your opinions on this. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a.

F

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.

waste

a.

misspend / misuse

2

annual

b.

yearly

3.

careless

c.

slack

4.

target

d.

goal

5.

matter

e.

make a difference

6.

spokesperson

f.

representative

7.

error

g.

mistake

8.

rate

h.

percentage

9.

seriously

i.

badly

10.

alarm bells

j.

warning signs

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.

Last year

2.

Around US$6.4 billion

3.

The target

4.

Because of the financial crisis

5.

Its budget

6.

Spending mistakes

7.

7%

8.

Training electronics employees

9.

Forests / Forestry

10.

Alarm bells

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

b

2.

d

3.

c

4.

a

5.

b

6.

a

7.

c

8.

a

9.

d

10.

c

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)